ST. LOUIS – Boston’s Rubby De La Rosa had no regrets about the way he pitched Tuesday night in St. Louis.

“It was good, everything was working,” the right-hander said. “I used my fastball a lot.”

De La Rosa gave up one run on six hits in six innings and left with the game tied at 1. Boston ended up losing, 3-2, to the Cardinals.

“He was very good,” Boston manager John Farrell said. “He had a good fastball-changeup combination going. I thought he pitched with a lot of confidence and a lot of poise.”

De La Rosa, who fell to 0-4 on the road, has held the opposition to three runs or fewer in six of seven starts since June 16. He continued that roll against the Cardinals.

“He gave us an opportunity to win and that’s all you can ask,” Boston infielder Dustin Pedroia. “We just didn’t push across any runs for him.”

St. Louis outfielder Jon Jay hit an RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning to break a tie and lead the Cardinals to the win in a battle between the two World Series teams from last fall.

The Cardinals won their third in a row and fourth in the last five. Boston has lost three in a row.

Jay blooped a hit to left off reliever Junichi Tazawa (1-3) to bring in former Red Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski with the winning run.

All-Star reliever Pat Neshek (5-0) picked up the win by striking out the side in the eighth. St. Louis closer Trevor Rosenthal recorded his NL-leading 35th save in 39 chances.

Pierzynski started the winning rally with a two-out hit. He was signed by the Cardinals on July 26 after being released by the Red Sox on July 16.

“Everyone wants me to say bad things about the Red Sox and I’m not going to do that,” Pierzynski said. “I’m not bitter about what happened. It just didn’t work. I don’t have one hard feeling. The only thing is I didn’t play well enough. I have nothing but respect for the organization and how they handled everything. I was proud to say I was a Red Sox.”

The Red Sox have lost 11 of their last 13. They are a season-low 14 games under .500.

Where are the champs? Only 13 players remain from the Red Sox 25-man roster that won the World Series last fall. Through trades and attrition, the average age of the team dropped from 31 on Opening Day, to 28 on Tuesday.

Knuckleball man: The Red Sox have recalled knuckleball specialist Steven Wright from Triple-A Pawtucket. Wright will be making his first stint on the roster this season after four appearances last year.

Page 2 of 2 - Trainer’s room: Red Sox: Newly acquired OF Allen Craig was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore ankle. He suffered the injury Friday while running to first on a ground out. OF Corey Brown was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket and in uniform for Tuesday’s game. He was hitting .226 with 16 homers and 39 RBI. Shane Victorino underwent successful lumbar discectomy surgery in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

On deck: St. Louis RHP Shelby Miller (8-8, 4.14) will face close friend Joe Kelly (2-2, 4.37) in the second game of the three-game series tonight. Kelly, who spent two-plus seasons with the Cardinals, will be making his first start for the Red Sox since being acquired in a trade July 31. The two served as best man in each other’s weddings in the off season.

“It’s going to be strange,” Kelly said. “There will be some emotions there.”